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I wasn’t really feeling this week’s Top 10 Tuesday topic, which is literary characters you’d name a pet after. So, I’m going rogue this week. Since we’re getting closer to Halloween, I’m doing my top 10 favorite creature features. As I’m sure you’ll notice from the movies listed below, I have a thing for campy horror.

From IMDb: After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

Today kicks of Banned Books Week, which goes until Oct 1 this year. In support of the initiative, here’s 10 classics that are often banned/challenged that I highly recommend people read.

Instead of writing mini-reviews on each title, I’ve listed the most frequent overall reasons each book has been challenged/banned and some interesting facts about the challenges. Please note that what I have listed below is in no way comprehensive of all the reasons why the books have been challenged. Some (like “Catcher in the Rye”) have been challenged an absurd amount of times.

Also, a quick note on the difference between challenged and banned books. Challenged refers to books that were challenged but not banned. Banned refers to books that were challenged and removed from library shelves, reading lists, classes, etc.

“The Awakening” was highly shocking when it was first published, which led to it being banned for decades. In 2006, it was challenged by a school board member in Illinois who objected to it due to their religious beliefs.

Frequently challenged for reasons ranging from sex to profanity. The most absurd case I could find was the one where parents complained about the book because of its portrayal of racism and sex. The complaints led to school administration removing the book from the curriculum and replacing it with “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Can we talk about the fact that “The Scarlet Letter” was deemed appropriate while “Beloved” wasn’t?